You made some mistakes in your thread thing: ok in the photo of Alexei with his father posing in the Uniforms you said that Alexei was hiding that he couldn't bend his eft knee after Spala, but he is bending his left knee! So i don't get that!

And in the one where it shows abit of the wheel chair, you can see that someone is sitting in it, so i'm thinking its Alexandra's!

Alexei LVR: of course you are right about the Tsarevich’s left knee: I guess I was thinking in my mother tongue when I wrote about it and probably wanted to say he couldn’t “unbend” his knee after the Spala crisis…. I meant to say he couldn’t extend his left leg fully so Court photographers had to take photos on steps to hide this fact from the public.

Here’s another photo I like a lot of Alexis wearing the uniform of the Tsar’s “Konvoi” (Cossack Bodyguard). It was taken on the terrace of the Livadia Palace with Joy, maybe at the same time he had his photo taken with his parents (see my earlier post).

1. The fact that Joy is in the picture suggests that this picture was most likely taken in 1914, quite a while after the Spala incident (1912). Alexei's knee eventually recovered about a year and half after his attack. He therefore would not be bending it. On the other hand, we don't exactly know when Alexei got Joy, but it was most positively after 1913.

2. You only really see his right leg in the picture, and his uniform covers the entire knee area of both legs. So, even if his leg was bent, no one would ever see it. The only true way you could tell is if he was walking (limp), but he's not.

Ortino, what makes you think that Alexis didn’t get Joy before 1914? My feeling is that the 2 photos from Livadia (the one with Joy and the other one with his parents) were taken on October 4, 1913. Why? Because on that day, the Imperial Family celebrated the regimental holiday of the Emperor’s Own Cossack Escort by going to the Cossacks’ barracks for a review and later coming back to the Palace for a holiday luncheon, as recorded by Nicholas II in his diary. It was customary for the Emperor to wear their uniform on that occasion. As Alexis also is wearing the same uniform, it must have been for a special occasion related to the Cossack Escort. They did go back to Livadia in Spring 1914 but I can’t think of any similar occasion then.

I unfortunately don’t know when the Tsarevich got his dog. But on October 5, 1913 Nicholas II wrote that “Alexis received his gifts in our bedroom”. October 5 was Alexis’ namesday. Before the Revolution, a namesday was more important than a birthday: gifts and congratulations were offered on one’s namesday. What if Alexis had received an early present on the day before – a dog! – so the photo taken on the terrace that day would be the first taken with his new companion?

By then it seems his injured leg was much better. When they arrived in the Crimea that year (on August 9) Alexis still couldn’t walk. I have a newsreel taken on that day and he can be seen being carried by Derevenko. Nicholas II records that he started his mudbaths on August 20. According to Gilliard, they helped a lot as he was soon able to walk again, albeit with a limp, as seen on other newsreels from late 1913-early 1914.

Nicholas II and Alexis can both be seen wearing the Escort’s grey field uniform and the long Cossack dagger called kinjal (with a sword on the side)…a true Cossack was always armed to the teeth! I have also seen a movie shot at that time.

A namesday is celebrated by a person if they happen to bear the name of a saint whose feastday is celebrated on that date - it is especially popular in Russia, but also in many other European countries, and the Baltic states. It is often celebrated more than a person's birthday.So Alexei's name day would have been October 5th.

Assuming you mean World War I: actually, Russian didn't declare War on Russia: it was the other way around. Germany declared war on Russia on July 19 (old style) / August 1, 1914.For a day to day account of the tragic events which lead to War, you can read the French Ambassasor’s memoirs: see chapter 2 for the week of July 24 to August 2, 1914http://www.alexanderpalace.org/mpmemoirs/2.html

In a nutshell: in response to Austria’s declaration of War to Serbia and general mobilization on July 28, Russia, feeling threathened by Austria, announces a general mobilization on July 31. Germany feels threathened and asks Russia to stop its mobilization. The Tsar informs the Kaiser that he isn’t threathening Germany but has to defend himself against the Austrian military build-up at its border. Germany sends a 12 hour ultimatum to Russia: if Russia doesn’t stop mobilizing immediately, the German army will mobilize too. The next day the German declares war on Russia.

At first I thought the photo Otmanfan posted had been taken on October 4, 1916 at Stavka at the regimental parade and “moleben” (religious service) for His Majesty’s Own (Cossack) Escort (“Konvoi”). But, as AlexeiLVR pointed out (see below), he looked younger than on the group photo. After some closer examination, I now believe it was taken one year earlier, on October 4, 1915.

As for the 1916 regimental holiday, it was the last time the IF was to celebrate the regimental holiday of their beloved Cossacks before the Revolution. Alexis described this event in his diary as follows (my translation): “4 October: This morning there was the Konvoi parade. I went to the prayer service (“moleben”). I went to lunch with Mama on the train. During and after lunch (…) the Cossacks sang. And danced too. (…) “

Yes, Matushka thanks for posting this album page (but where did you find it? I mean is the date reliable?). If the date is right it would confirm my findings, althought not my hypothesis about Joy. Interestingly enough, in his book, Prince Michael of Greece has the photo on the bottom identified as having been taken in 1909 on the balcony of the Livadia Palace: as the New Palace wasn’t finished until Autumn 1911, he is obviously wrong (besides, a 5 years old Alexis would have been quite smaller).

The photo Otmanfan posted was taken on October 4, 1916 at Stavka at the regimental parade and “moleben” (religious service) for His Majesty’s Own (Cossack) Escort (“Konvoi”).. It was the last time the IF was to celebrate the regimental holiday of their beloved Cossacks before the Revolution. Alexis described this event in his diary as follows (my translation):“4 October: This morning there was the Konvoi parade. I went to the prayer service (“moleben”). I went to lunch with Mama on the train. During and after lunch (…) the Cossacks sang. And danced too. (…) “

The colorized group photo – wrong colors, but nice! - posted by Moonlight_tsarina was taken on the same day. Some movie was shot too and shown as newsreel in cinemas.

Where did you find the diary entry by Alexei of that day? was it in Russian?

And I saw that film that was shot of Alexei and Nicholas on that day! Alexei looks older in the film then on the picture that otmafan posted of Alexei and Nicholas!